CARLSBAD  A key intersection in downtown Carlsbad that recently introduced a diagonal crossing pattern for pedestrians is making another change that officials say will help keep vehicles in stride.

The crossing pattern — nicknamed the “Carlsbad scramble” — was added last summer to the intersection of Carlsbad Boulevard and Carlsbad Village Drive to improve the flow of cars and pedestrians.

When the lights turn red, vehicles stop in all directions and pedestrians can walk in any direction, including diagonally across the center of the intersection.

Cars can’t turn right when the traffic lights are red, even if the crosswalks are clear. That’s going to change next month, said Brian Jones, deputy transportation director.

The city plans to install bright, pedestrian-activated, computer-controlled lights that say “No Right Turn on Red.” That way, vehicles will be allowed to turn right on red when the LED signs are off and there are no pedestrians in the walkway.

“We’re trying to enhance the convenience for the motorists and the safety of the pedestrians,” Jones said.

As it is vehicular traffic sometimes backs up, especially in the right lane of northbound Carlsbad Boulevard where drivers often wait to turn onto eastbound Carlsbad Village Drive.

Sometimes drivers don’t see the existing “No Right Turn on Red” sign or just ignore it and that can be dangerous, Jones said.

“We need one (a sign) that lights up and draws everybody’s attention,” he said. When the lights are off, there will be no turn prohibition.

Kathryn Dell’Acqua, a clerk at Royal Palms Spirits, has a panoramic view of the traffic from behind her counter at the southeast corner of the intersection.

”I think it’s better, especially in the summer,” she said of the change.

Drivers and pedestrians took a while to get used to the new pattern, Dell’Acqua said.

For a while she saw “quite a few tickets” being issued to people for making illegal right turns, she said, but she added that it’s always been a busy intersection.

The area is near the beach and the heart of downtown Carlsbad’s tourism-oriented businesses. There are numerous pedestrians any time of the year, but especially in the summer.

Carlsbad’s scramble is the only one in North County, Jones said, though there is one in the Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego.

The cost to install Carlsbad’s four lighted signs will be about $20,000, he said.

“It’s about balancing the needs of all the users of the intersection,” Jones said.